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I agree with Christopher Bennett that the Canadian government should be outraged regarding Israel's bulldozing of the family homes of Palestinian criminals who murdered their citizens, leaving the innocent occupants without shelter. I see no difference in Canada where the homes of convicted marijuana grow operators are seized by provincial governments under the pretext of financing law enforcement, leaving the innocent occupants and children without shelter. Here, also, we endorse a policy where the sins of one family member are carried by all of the family. In Israel, murder carries this punishment; in Canada, the growing of marijuana has the same result. Where is the outrage here?

Graphic photos of a bloodied prayer book and a blood-soaked tallit (prayer shawl) are circulating on the Internet after the terrorist attack on a Jerusalem synagogue Tuesday that resulted in the deaths of five people. But equally repulsive images are those showing Palestinians dancing in the streets, blaring songs of praise from loudspeakers and handing out candy to children — thus further inculcating yet another generation with hate — to celebrate the slayings of four rabbis and a police officer. What kind of people are capable of celebrating with such glee and such grotesque revelry, the murders of others? It is the same nauseating type of celebration that marked the toppling of the World Trade Center towers 13 years ago. Perhaps it’s too much to ask those Palestinians who danced in the streets Tuesday after the horrific violence at the Kehillat B’nei Torah synagogue, to envision what it would be like if the roles had been reversed, and how they would feel if two Jewish people had entered a mosque and killed four imams. When extremist Baruch Goldstein shot and killed 29 Muslims and wounded more than 100 others who were praying in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, 20 years ago, then-Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin called him a “degenerate murderer” and “an embarrassment to Judaism.” The Israeli government collectively denounced Goldstein’s actions. However, after the slayings in Jerusalem Tuesday, the Jordanian legislature observed a moment of silence — in honour of the terrorists. And we make no apologies for calling them terrorists — they were not “militants” as some Western media outlets persist in labelling them.

GAZA, Palestine - Ignoring international appeals for a cease-fire, Israel widened its range of Gaza bombing targets to civilian institutions with suspected Hamas ties and deployed ground troops inside Gaza for the first time early Sunday to raid a rocket launching site in the Palestinian territory. More than 156 Palestinians have been killed.

Two Canadians held for seven weeks in an Egyptian prison in what they've described as brutal conditions have been freed, Canadian officials announced Saturday.
There were few other details on the release of John Greyson and Dr. Tarek Loubani, who were arrested on Aug. 16 during violent anti-government demonstrations in Cairo.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — President Barack Obama acknowledged deep divisions at home and abroad on Friday over his call for military action in Syria — and conceded the possibility he’ll fail to sway the American public. He refused to say whether he would act without passage of congressional authorization for a strike in response to chemical weapons use.

Delaying what had loomed as an imminent strike, President Barack Obama abruptly announced Saturday he will seek congressional approval before launching any military action meant to punish Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons in an attack that killed hundreds.

Calgarians with roots in Egypt watched with fear and concern as violence continued to erupt across their homeland on the weekend. “It’s pretty bad,” said Ahmed Abdelrahman, who came to Canada six years ago. “I have friends of friends that have been killed by the military or police or thugs. . . . The biggest fear is civil war. We don’t want civil war, like what’s happening in Syria.”

Benchmark New York oil prices spiked above $100 US per barrel for the first time in nine months Wednesday but investors in Calgary oil and gas companies remained glumly on the sidelines. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery gained $1.64 to $101.24 US per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since May 3, 2012, as Egyptian political turmoil deepened and a report indicated tighter U.S. oil supplies.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will seek alternate sleeping arrangements when travelling after receiving a sky-high bill for installing a customized bed on a recent flight to London, officials close to the Israeli leader said.

NEW YORK — Comedy Central says Jon Stewart will take a break from “The Daily Show” starting in June to direct and produce his first feature film, based on a book by Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari.